I feel a healin’ comin’ on!

Ok, I am in need of a healin’… This day is already off to a lousy start.

I noticed last night that my clutch pedal was begining to become loose, but I didn’t have trouble getting home or anything. I made a mental note to check the fluid resovoir to see if it was low in the morning.

This morning, my brain’s version of the Outlook reminder feature popped up to tell me that I needed to check the fluid. Sure enough, it was tablespoon low. I filled it up and headed to the bank to deposit my first Connected Dot paycheck. After my bank excursion, I got into the car and backed out of the parking space. Put it into first gear and started to go… and the clutch pedal stayed on the floor while I was in first gear and rolling through the parking lot. I started to freak out a bit until the clutch pedal popped back up, and I was able to head next door to the gas station. I filled up and checked the fluid once again – it looked lower than what I had filled it to, but nothing earth-shattering. I checked the pressure of the clutch pedal, and it worked. I headed out for work.

I had driven about 5 miles when I got to the left-hand turn lane on Tatum to get onto the 101 freeway. I made a mental note to tell Mark when i got to work that I was scared to death of driving my car with this problem persisting. Only I didn’t make it to work. I “disengaged” the clutch and the clutch pedal rested flat on the floor. It would not disengage. It would not do anything. I put on the hazards and checked the fluid level… empty. I decided to call Mark to tell him that instead of being scared to death of driving the car, I was not driving anywhere period. Mark was gracious enough to stop by the store and pick up some fluid for me and head out to the desert island that I was stranded on. Rickey called me back and got dressed and arrived shortly after Mark got there. I also ran into Abbi as she headed towards Trax for a good bye luncheon. Small world.

Anyways, we pushed the car out of the turn lane and into a section on the right-side of the road, and thanks to Rickey, Mark, and the bike cop who stopped traffic for a few seconds, we were able to get it moved out of traffic quickly. We called Bob, who works for Atwood European and is Rickey’s brother; He had some theories and had us call a tow truck to get the car down to his shop. The first company was not able to do it today. Then it was suggested to call “Tow4Less” – but it might cost us more. Ironic: Tow4Less will cost you more. An hour and 91 dollars later, we arrived at the shop in downtown Phoenix. Yeah, it costs less… than a engine overhaul.

So, now I am finally at work and hopin’ for a healin’ – some good news that today’s adventure isn’t actually gonna cost me $500-$600 (but it probably will). I may not hear until tomorrow, as the shop was busy and may not be able to fit it in. But I trust Bob explicitly – he won’t do me wrong.

Oh yeah – Randall has regularly sent me pictures of the engine that was/is being put into his car. It has been down at the shop now for several months, but may be finished this weekend (s00p3r w00t). I got my chance to take a picture of it and send it to him today.

[tags]Cars, Breakdown, Atwood European[/tags]